The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Monday has filed its first draft report on the Rafale deal, days after the Supreme Court dismissed a clutch of petitions alleging irregularities in the deal.

The CAG has sent the report to the Ministry of Defence seeking its final comments on the matter. It had sent the report to the Centre two seeks, and has sought a reply from it with four weeks, CNN-News18 reported.

File image of a Rafale fighter jet. Wikimedia Commons

However, the report is unlikely to be tabled in the Winter Session of Parliament, the channel reported.

India signed an agreement with France for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in a fly-away condition as part of the upgrading process of Indian Air Force equipment. The deal is estimated to be about Rs 58,000 crore (around $8 billion).

The Supreme Court on 14 December had dismissed all petitions demanding a probe into the Rafale fighter jet deal, asserting that the pricing and decision-making process of the deal were not in doubt.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said, "Our country cannot afford to be unprepared when it comes to fighter aircraft." The bench also observed that defence preparedness needs to be looked after.